AquaCell, a manufacturer of point-of-use water purification systems, announced that it has closed on its acquisition of Arizona-based Water Science Technologies Inc. (WST).
James C. Witham, AquaCell's chairman and CEO said, "According to a recent article in the Los Angeles Business Journal, the water industry is 40 percent as large as the oil industry and much larger than the global pharmaceutical industry.
"Realizing that it is only going to get bigger, the acquisition of WST puts us in a position to capitalize on and increase our presence in the water industry, as we have now expanded our product base and are no longer a one product company."
WST provides a wide range of products and services for water purification and treatment, through systems capable of treating from 10 to millions of gallons of water per day to address industrial, commercial, institutional and residential needs.
WST has designed and manufactured systems installed around the world for a broad range of companies such as Intel, Motorola, National Semiconductors, General Motors, Nissan, Honeywell, Smith Foods and the Phoenician Resort.
In order to increase sales of the WST products, AquaCell's marketing plan for the product line focuses on three specific areas, positioning itself for both short-term and long-term growth. The first area of concentration is purification and bottling systems for water bottling plants, both foreign and domestic.
Bottled water is the fastest-growing segment of both the beverage industry and the water industry, and is expected to have continued significant growth. WST has manufactured numerous systems for bottling plants installed throughout the United States and Central and South America, including systems for brands such as Culligan and private label supermarket brands.
The second area of concentration will be on systems to treat water for car washes, providing environmentally friendly recycling and discharge, as well as spot-free rinse, and the third product line will encompass the restaurant and food-service industry, providing protection of equipment and better quality control for food preparation.
"Although this acquisition took longer to close than anticipated due to negotiations with vendors and distributors, we are pleased that it has now been completed," said Gary Wolff, chief financial officer. "We believe that this acquisition will provide a considerable increase in shareholder value."
Source: AquaCell
